Jason employs a variety of fish models (zebrafish, tilapia and Atlantic salmon) to study how pituitary hormones, most notably prolactin and growth hormone, direct the concerted movements of ions and water across osmoregulatory tissues such as the gill, kidney and gut. While we have known that the endocrine system is essential to osmoregulation across vertebrate species, the molecular mechanisms of action remain poorly understood. The basic physiological processes that support osmoregulation are highly conserved across vertebrate species, making fish an excellent experimental model for understanding an array of human diseases associated with osmoregulatory dysfunction. Thus, a major focus of Jason’s research is to develop the zebrafish as a powerful genetic model to study how pituitary hormones participate in developmental kidney patterning and functional regulation. As an organismal physiologist, Jason seeks to connect observations at the cellular and molecular levels with the physiology, development and disease of the organisms he studies.
Jason earned a B.S. from Roger Williams University (2003), a M.S. from the Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island (2006), and a Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii (2010). Jason joined the Center for Neuroendocrine Studies (http://www.umass.edu/cns/) at the University of Massachusetts as a NIH postdoctoral fellow in 2010. As of 2015 Jason is an Assistant Professor at Skidmore College.
Selected Publications:
Breves, J.P., McCormick, S.D., Karlstrom, R.O., 2014. Minireview: Prolactin and teleost ionocytes: new insights into cellular and molecular targets of prolactin in vertebrate epithelia. General and Comparative Endocrinology In press; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ygcen.2013.12.014
Breves, J.P., Serizier, S.B., Goffin, V., McCormick, S.D., Karlstrom, R.O., 2013. Prolactin regulates transcription of the ion uptake Na+/Cl- cotransporter (ncc) gene in zebrafish gill. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology 369: 98-106.
Seale, A.P., Moorman, B.P., Stagg, J.J., Breves, J.P., Lerner, D.T., Grau, E.G., 2012. Prolactin177, prolactin188 and prolactin receptor 2 in the pituitary of the euryhaline tilapia, Oreochromis mossambicus, are differentially osmosensitive. Journal of Endocrinology 213: 89-98.
Pierce, A.L., Breves, J.P., Moriyama, S., Hirano, T., Grau, E.G., 2011. Differential regulation of igf1 and igf2 mRNA level in tilapia hepatocytes: effects of insulin and cortisol on Gh sensitivity. Journal of Endocrinology 211: 201-210.
Tipsmark, C.K., Breves, J.P., Seale, A.P., Lerner, D.T., Hirano, T., Grau, E.G., 2011. Switching of Na+, K+-ATPase isoforms by salinity and prolactin in the gill of a cichlid fish. Journal of Endocrinology 209: 237-244.
Breves, J.P., Watanabe, S., Kaneko, T., Hirano, T., Grau, E.G., 2010. Prolactin restores freshwater-type mitochondrion-rich cells expressing Na+/Cl- cotransporter in hypophysectomized Mozambique tilapia. American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology 299: R702-R710.
Breves, J.P., Hasegawa, S., Yoshioka, M., Fox, B.K., Davis, L.K., Lerner, D.T., Takei, Y., Hirano, T., Grau, E.G., 2010. Acute salinity challenges in Mozambique and Nile tilapia: Differential responses of plasma prolactin, growth hormone and branchial expression of ion transporters. General and Comparative Endocrinology 167: 135-142.
Breves, J.P., Hirano, T., Grau, E.G., 2010. Ionoregulatory and endocrine responses to disturbed salt and water balance in Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) exposed to confinement and handling stress. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Part A 155: 294-300.
Research Gate Profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jason_Breves/?ev=hdr_xprf